Samsung Prevails in Patent-Infringement Case in Germany

Samsung Electronics reports that it won a lawsuit against four non-genuine printer toner-cartridge resellers at the District Court of Munich in Germany on December 9, 2016.

The court ruled that the four defendants (resellers) based in Germany infringed on Samsung Electronics’ EP 1975744B1 patent as amended by the European Patent Office in its decision dated February 3, 2016, a feature of cartridges for Samsung’s CLT-X5082 printer (case nos. 7 O 25767/13, 7 O 26822/13 to 7 O 26824/13). Cartridges for other printers (such as the CLP-X660, CLT-X6092) may also infringe the patent.

Samsung’s lawsuit against German generic printer-cartridge resellers has been ongoing since November 2013, making Samsung’s win a noteworthy end to a three-year-long effort.

In line with Samsung’s claims, the resellers finally acknowledged that they had infringed the patents. Accordingly, the court ordered that the defendants cease sales of the offending products. The defendants were also ordered to pay damages to Samsung, as well as part of the company’s legal costs. The exact amount will be determined separately.

Samsung has been actively warning and taking legal steps against generic printer cartridge resellers operating throughout Europe in recent years. In late November 2016, Samsung also won a lawsuit against two resellers in the Netherlands who were selling similar non-genuine, patent-infringing cartridges (District Court of The Hague, decision dated November 30, 2016, case no C/09/456760, patents [EP 2357537B1, EP 1975744B1, and designs RCD 001200687, RCD 000853551]). The resellers have until February 27 to launch an appeal against the court’s verdict. Samsung was also victorious with a lawsuit filed against other German resellers in March last year (Munich Court of Appeals, judgments dated March 31, 2016, case nos. 6 U 4924/14 and 6 U 4926/14; parallel nullity proceedings are pending).

Samsung representatives said its lawsuits “will be a strong warning message to generic cartridge resellers in Europe to not infringe Samsung’s intellectual property.

“Samsung takes patent-infringement issues very seriously,” said Kiho Kim, president of Samsung Printing Solutions (now called S-Printing Solution). “It is our responsibility to provide our customers with the most convenient printing environment possible. This not only extends to printing devices, but also to print supplies, including toner cartridges.”

Samsung officials added that using non-genuine toner cartridges may result in low-quality prints, as well as various printer problems such as excessive noise. The company suggests customers verify genuine Samsung toner prior to purchase by checking the labels on cartridge boxes. The colors of genuine product labels should change when viewed from different angles.

For more information about genuine Samsung toner, customers can visit Samsung here.